


Bathtub Prince

by wsakuya



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AUs no one asked for, Bathtubs, First Kisses, Humor, M/M, Merman!Aomine, Merman/Human AU, Orefuro AU, Porn Magazines, Slow Build, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3493766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wsakuya/pseuds/wsakuya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Kagamiiiiii!" The water splashed all around as the merman moved his strong and big fish tail left and right, the poor bathtub being too small for his long body.</p><p>"Kagami, you dickface!" he shouted again with more force, just as the door to the bathroom opened, showing an annoyed human with a wooden tray in his hands.</p><p>"I heard you just fine the first time, dumbass, and stop splashing the water all around!"</p><p>AKA. the Merman/Human AU no one asked for</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bathtub Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my own prompt.

"Kagamiiiiii!" The water splashed all around as the merman moved his strong and big fish tail left and right, the poor bathtub being too small for his long body.

"Kagami, you dickface!" he shouted again with more force, just as the door to the bathroom opened, showing an annoyed human with a wooden tray in his hands.

"I heard you just fine the first time, dumbass, and stop splashing the water all around!" Kagami pulled with his naked foot a towel onto the floor and swabbed the water away, careful enough not to drop the food he had made for the merman in his bathtub Aomine.

The creature groaned. "Hurry up, I'm starvin'!"

Kagami muttered something that sounded quite close to an 'ungrateful, little shit' under his breath and then put the tray down beside the tub, making sure it was within Aomine's reach.

The merman hummed. "Nice, hamburgers!"

His skin was tanned, most likely from all the times he had swum directly under the sun. In summers, Japan could be quite a bitch, the heat radiating from the sky like inside an oven.

Kagami wondered how many years Aomine had survived in that unbearable weather without drying out.

Aomine's hair and eyes were a deep aquamarine, the kind of blue the sky turned at summer nights. His hair was short and shaggy, the bangs not even reaching his eyes, but it was constantly wet anyways, so it didn't really matter.

Then Kagami looked further down, the only part of his body that differentiated himself from actual human beings - it was a fish tail.

No legs or feet or toes, just a long, shiny fish tail at the end of his body.

It was moving curious, splashing around in the water or simply dancing from left to right; as much as it was possible in this small bathtub.

Aomine had the same control over his tail like Kagami had over his legs, constantly keeping it in motion in case his body went numb.

The scales were a light blue. It always would remind Kagami of the day he visited an aquarium for the very first time. The water had been clear, bright, sparkling, the light shining through and making it even brighter and clearer.

Aomine took the food without plate whatsoever in his hands and devoured it with relish, making loud, gross sounds at which Kagami could only cringe.

If he had known Aomine would be gorging down the whole content of his fridge, he wouldn't have picked up the merman at the river side a month ago.

Then he thought, yeah, he probably would have anyways.

"What'ya staring at?" Aomine asked with bread, meat and salad in his mouth, crumbs and sauce all over his face.

Kagami shrugged. "Just remembered our first meeting," he said and saw that sunset in front of him again when he closed his eyes, that riverside with the merman struggling on the cold, dirty ground and shiny, pitiful eyes looking up to him.

The creature either had tried to crawl away or back into the water again, Kagami hadn't been sure, but when he had seen that weak body and the shaking arms at the side of the river, he ran down the hill, shouting a "Hey!" to get the creature's attention.

Looking back, he wondered why he had done that. Kagami didn't like troublesome things and tried to keep out of those as much as possible, but most likely he felt pity towards the creature wriggling on the ground.

It was helpless, struggled pathetically, and Kagami thought, rather it'd be him than anyone else finding it.

"You okay?" he called out as he approached the merman. He still hadn't really reacted to the fish tail at the end of that human's body, the adrenaline in his blood making it hard to think clearly.

The most-likely man with his exposed skin looked up to him, a murderous look on his face.

Kagami gulped quietly and rethought his decision. Maybe he didn't want to be saved and was just chilling on the ground. Maybe Kagami had disturbed his sweet free time and now it was furious with rage.

"Do I fucking look like I'm okay?" the merman barked and slapped Kagami's face with the end of his tail.

The boy jerked back and blinked. That was certainly not the answer he had been waiting for, or rather, Kagami hadn't expected for the merman to be honest. He cursed under his breath when his brain had processed that he'd just gotten slapped by a merman, slapped in the face with a fish tail.

His cheeks were all sticky now, and he really didn't know with what. Kagami sighed in defeat. "Look, my apartment is not far from here, let me carry y--"

The merman in front of him barked out in laughter, dirty and bitter.

"Carry, my ass. You think I'm just gonna let you take me with you. I'm not dumb," he said and started to crawl away from Kagami on his tanned arms, trying not to look wholly pathetic while doing so.

"Wha--what?!" the red-haired boy shouted out and raised himself up, the offensive tone not missing his ears, "I was trying to help you, bastard! Do whatever you want!"

And with that, Kagami left, bag around his shoulder and teeth gritted in annoyance. There was a limit to his kindness and patience, and it was reached.

And actually, that merman could have been a bit more thankful, because Kagami wasn't always kind enough to reach out his hand to someone, less a half fish.

Up at the road, Kagami heard laughter and looked up, seeing a small group of boys walking in the other direction, in the direction he just had come from.

His feet froze and he inhaled deeply.

He could just leave and act like this never happened, like he hadn't just now encountered a merman at the river. It wasn't his business whatever would happen to that creature from now on, whether those boys would approach it or not, and maybe even--

"Shit," Kagami cursed and ruffled his hair. He turned around, and just like by themselves his feet took him back where he had come from, to the place the merman was still struggling on the ground.

He hastened his place to overtake the group of boys, meanwhile rummaging through his backpack and pulling out a blanket he was still carrying from the time he'd gone on a picnic with his friends. Kagami threw it over the merman, who tensed in surprise.

His face showed an expression of pure horror until he realised it was just a blanket. A warm blanket to hide his fish tail.

He looked up and met red, burning eyes. Kagami pulled off his sweater and threw it over the creature's head.

"What the-- what the fuck are you doing?" he sputtered.

Kagami pulled the man closer by the neck until their noses nearly touched.

"Who'd you have rather take care of you? Me or," he paused and pointed with his thumb behind him were the group of boys was slowly coming closer, "those guys who look like the top delinquents of their school?"

The merman's eyes darted back and forth, probably comparing the options he had open. There was a glimpse of doubt in his blue eyes. Obviously he didn't trust Kagami yet. But who would?

Kagami literally gave the merman the chance to either come with him, a complete stranger who was practically threatening him, or go with those delinquents who would do God knows what as soon as they realised that he was no human being.

No wonder the creature had been so bitter about his offer earlier.

Kagami sighed and let go of the other's neck. He raised himself up back on his feet.

"Look, I know neither sound really appealing, but I'm really sure those guys won't just walk past you when they see what you are," he said and offered the creature his hand.

Its blue hair was still messy from Kagami pulling his sweater over its head earlier. Its fingers dug into the ground stubbornly until he defeated sighed as well.

"Fine, it can't get any worse now, can it?" he said and, albeit reluctantly, lay his hand in Kagami's.

Kagami could still hear the echo of their conversation in his head when he had carried Aomine into his new home. How he had asked what his name was, and Aomine had answered, blushing because Kagami was carrying him bridal style, in a quiet hushed voice, "...It's Aomine, dumbass."

 

Back to present, the real Aomine had now swallowed his meal wholly and was eagerly licking his fingers, as if hoping he could still get some flavour out of it.

"Stop remembering that shit," he grunted and squirted a few droplets of water in Kagami's face.

Since then, you could say Aomine had warmed up, acting way more spoiled around Kagami and started to depend on him, but he never talked about himself. Whenever Kagami would ask something personal, Aomine tried as hard as possible to avoid the topic, quickly changing it by talking about some series he had watched on the laptop the other day.

Still, Kagami had gotten to know Aomine much better over the weeks, noticed his little quirks, his eating habits and the sound of his laughter.

Kagami would sprint home as soon as school was over, avoid meeting up with his friends so often and simply try to make Aomine feel home in that small bathtub of theirs.

He'd never admit it, but over the weeks the merman had managed to become a weak spot of his.

Kagami wiped the water off his face and pushed the food tray away. His body ached a bit when he stood up, and he thought, a bath would be really great right now.

"Let fresh water into the bathtub, I'm going in," he said and walked over to the cupboards to fish out a towel.

The merman perked up and raised an eyebrow, trying to make his smirk look as devilish as possible. "Oh, so we're gonna have some sexy time?"

"If you mean by sexy time me vehemently trying to scrub the sweat off my skin because of my part-time job, then yeah, we're gonna have some sexy time."

Aomine cringed. "You didn't have to say it like that. Read the mood, man."

 

Kagami sat in the living room with the doors open, so he could hear Aomine clearly if something was up. He was just trying to finish his Japanese homework he had been stuck at the past hour when he heard Aomine's voice calling his name.

"Kagamiiiii!"

The boy sighed and let the pen fall onto his notebook. He acted all annoyed with massaging his forehead and glaring into the direction of the bathroom, but honestly speaking, he actually had been waiting the whole time for some kind of distraction because he would never be able to finish the homework in his current condition.

"What is it?" Kagami shouted back, and groaned loudly as he didn't receive any reply from Aomine. He was like that typical mother, who shouted her child's name and then literally played dead even though she had gotten an answer in return.

With a groan, Kagami pushed himself up on his feet and walked into the bathroom.

While is apartment was fairy big, the walls weren't really thicker than his notebooks lying on the Kotatsu in the living room, so it was much easier for him to hear Aomine even if he were at the front door, which was literally at the other end of the apartment.

It's not like he enjoyed hearing Aomine in them middle of the night roaring because of some reality show he was watching at 2AM even though Kagami had school six hours later. But even if he did tell Aomine to shut up, it would simply end in them screaming their lungs out because of each other, and in return wake up their neighbours.

The boy opened the door to the bathroom and immediately locked eyes with Aomine, who had been waiting for him this whole time.

"What?" Kagami hissed. He stilled upon seeing Aomine's fish tail splashing left and right with excitement.

Kagami raised one of his funny-looking eyebrows. "What happened?"

"Do you know what would be great, Kagami?" Aomine asked and tried to come off as innocent, so hard that it in change sounded like he was a boy in the midst of his voice break.

Kagami caught on, and immediately replied with a quick, "No."

Because whenever Aomine used his 'fake voice' (as Kagami liked to call it), he was up to mischief. There would be something he wanted, wished for - something he couldn't get himself since he was a merman with a fishtail.

"What the fuck?" the blue-haired frowned, "Let me at least finish!"

"No," Kagami said again, "because you always wish for the dumbest things, and then it's up to me to get them for you." He crossed his arms over his chest and fixated Aomine with a thorough glare.

"But this time it's only a magazine!" the merman explained, the end of his fishtail jumping up with each word.

There was suspicion in Kagami's eyes. Surely, Aomine didn't just want a simple magazine, did he. The boy raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, and what magazine?"

"Of Mai-chan."

"Mai-chan?"

"Yeah, Mai-chan."

"Who the hell is Mai-chan?"

Aomine snorted. "You don't know who Mai-cha--"

He suddenly stopped himself midway, and then took a long, deep breath, only to look back into Kagami's confused eyes.

"She's a star cook," the merman then said, all serious in voice and expression. So serious it raised suspicion anew in Kagami.

"A cook?" Kagami asked incredulous, "Since when are you interested in cooks? Or cooking?"

Aomine shrugged. "Yeah okay, she's hot," he said and smirked.

Kagami rolled his eyes. That made much more sense. "Yeah, fine, whatever," he said and then closed the door to the bathroom. He just so missed Aomine's smirk turning bigger into something that literally screamed mischief.

 

The sliding door parted itself for him, and Kagami swiftly walked into the kiosk. He would do it fast; take the magazine, pay, and leave just as quick.

There was no reason for him to feel uncomfortable though, since he did cook and was interested in new tips that would help him improve, but when the cashier stared at him and asked for the money, it was as if they were able to read his mind and judge him, and man, did they judge.

Since Kagami was sure he would never be able to find the magazine with Mai-chan by himself, he walked straight to the register, where a very tall, purple-haired man was standing behind.

He saw Kagami approaching him, and lazily muttered, "Welcome, Sir," the bored expression never leaving his face.

Kagami hid his hands awkwardly in the pockets of his pants and avoided eye contact with the stranger.

"The newest issue of Mai-chan, please," he muttered under his breath, yet clear enough so Murasakibara (as his name tag indicated) could hear and understand him.

The giant man hummed, and then reached with one hand under the counter, pulling out a brand-new magazine covered in plastic.

"May I ask for your ID, sir?" Murasakibara said as he put the magazine onto the counter.

"ID? What for?" Kagami asked, lifting an eyebrow in suspicion. The hand holding his wallet tightened, as if being scared the giant were to snatch it out of his grasp.

Murasakibara hummed. "You always need to have your ID with you if you wanna buy porn magazines," he said.

Kagami's eyes widened. "Porn magazine!?" He watched the cashier lift the item for him and show him the front cover, and truly, there was Mai-chan sitting on it, her name hovering over her head in colourful letters, but she was barely wearing something.

The boy heard muttering behind him and turned around, two high school girls watching him and clearly talking about him, judging him.

Kagami's face reddened in embarrassment. "Wait-- no-- I'm not--" but they didn't listen, squealed when he started talking to them, and quickly ran away as if he was the grossest person they had ever met in their lives.

Ahomine...

That day, Kagami planned to kill Aomine with his death grip, only to be reminded again how goddamn slippery his skin was.

 

"Say, Aomine," Kagami said, sitting with his back leaned against the bathtub.

In response, he received a low hum, because the merman was attentively scanning through the magazine Kagami had bought him in the end. After feeling utter embarrassment for buying it, that is.

Kagami was txeting away on his phone. Sometimes he'd just spend time in the bathroom doing nothing, simply so Aomine wouldn't feel lonely. And even if the latter didn't admit it out loud, he did feel lonely sometimes, especially on the days Kagami decided to go out with his friends after all.

"How come you never talk about yourself?" the red-haired asked, curiously stealing glances now and then. He had actually planned not to ask unnecessary questions, because he knew there must have been a reason Aomine never talked about himself or his past.

Kagami wasn't keen on knowing literally every single piece there is to know about Aomine, but at least getting to hear why exactly the merman had been lying on the river side back then would be very helpful.

After a minute of silence only filled with the turning pages of Aomine's magazine though, he said, "no reason," without sparing Kagami a glance.

That was so typical of him though. Keeping quiet and not saying a thing if it was inconvenient for him. Kagami disliked the silent treatment.

"Aomine, don't ignore me," the boy said, "I really want to know."

He had put his phone away by now, his head turned in an uncomfortable angle his neck didn't necessarily welcome.

"What do you want to hear?" Aomine sighed, his question meant clearly sarcastic. He closed the magazine and put it down on a dry spot beside the bathtub. His tail was pulled together to get it into the water as well since the tub was too small for his body.

Kagami looked offended at him, yet stayed silent as Aomine sunk deeper into the water.

"That I was previously a human? That some sick scientists thought it was a great idea to experiment on a helpless child and turn him into a half-fish? That I could only barely escape and then you found me? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

The boy was silent, stunned, his jaw standing wide open with no sound coming out. Kagami didn't know what to say, because he had never imagined that Aomine had gone through to such hell, and he just wanted to scream because he was sure that at this point, Aomine couldn't do it himself, and maybe that would help him at least a bit. Kagami's chest felt so tight, he was sure he would be able to crack a walnut open with it.

"Pfft--" But then, Aomine started laughing out loud, his tail moving from left to right as he held his stomach in a poor attempt to ease the pain.

"Yo--you should have seen your face, Bakagami! You're so easy to fuck with, it's amazing!"

"Wh--what!?" the boy asked in confusion and gripped the edge of the bathtub. He didn't understand, but he was angry, and he could already feel his face heat up in either anger or humiliation, he wasn't sure. But if he understood correct, then Aomine had just lied to him.

"Ahomine..." the red-haired muttered, his temper rising high, too high, and the merman smirked at him.

"That's what you get for prying, Bakagami," he said, watching Kagami amused trying to hold in his voice because they already had gotten quite a few warnings regarding the volume of their conversations from the neighbours.

The boy gritted his teeth. "You..."

It took the blue-haired a punch in the gut to stop him from laughing and splashing the water all around through his frantic tail movements.

"Does it really matter?" Aomine asked, a tear threatening to leave his eyes from all the laughing, and he reached for Kagami's hand to grasp it firmly. "As long as we're together, nothing else matters."

"Fuck off."

 

With two bags full of groceries that would hopefully be enough for both Aomine and him, Kagami made his way back home.

It had been a long day with exams coming up soon, and by the time classes were over, the sun had already set.

Kagami hoped Aomine remembered being told that he would take longer today to get home. He knew how lonely the merman usually was, even with his porn magazines that supposedly weren't ones.

Just as Kagami walked past a playground which was very close to his apartment, he froze in his steps and turned around. His dark eyes scanned the road behind and in front of him, only to confirm that there was no one there.

Now the question was, why did he turn around in the first place? The answer was a chill running down his spine, as if someone was breathing on his neck, standing right behind him - yet there was no one.

Of course, Kagami could just shrug with his shoulders, pretend it was his imagination and continue his walk home. If only there wasn't his deep fear of ghosts and anything supernatural-related.

The boy took a breath. "Just your imagination, Taiga, just your imagination," he told himself, and then dared to take a step forward.

"Kagami-kun."

"KYAARG!" The boy screamed for his dear life, his voice getting octaves too high, hurled his grocery bags around and closed his eyes in fear of what he was about to see.

Kagami hadn't heard anything or felt anything, yet suddenly there was this presence popping out of nowhere, and of course, all that was left was screaming.

"Kagami-kun, please calm down," that voice said again, and suddenly the red-haired boy felt a jolt going through his body and he collapsed to the ground, the content of the grocery bags scattering all around him and further.

"What the hell!?" Kagami shouted, rubbing his head out of habit even though it was his butt that hurt the most. He raised his eyes and was met with a white, almost transparent boy standing in front of him. His expression seemed indifferent, but his eyes were definitely smiling. He was mocking Kagami.

"Wh-who the hell are you!?" the red-haired roared, meanwhile trying to calm his mind because no, this is definitely not a ghost standing in front of him, ghosts don't exist, no way.

"It's a pleasure finally meeting you, Kagami-kun," the boy said, now a small and polite smile gracing his features. He was smaller than Kagami, maybe by a head. He wore a normal button down shirt and cargo pants, at leas Kagami thought that's they were, because everything was transparent, even his clothes. He was literally able to see through the stranger in front of him, and he started to panic again, because that's definitely a ghost, right? Right?

"Wh-who are you?" the red-haired repeated, slowly sitting up and fixing his clothes which were covered in dirt now. He groaned. They were his favourites, and he only had worn them once this week. "And where the hell do you know my name from?"

"My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, I'm a good friend of Aomine-kun's," Kuroko said and nodded swiftly.

"Aomine...?" Hearing Aomine's name took Kagami off guard. He already knew that the merman was really weird, but he would have never thought that he had friends who were even weirder, no, even transparent.

"Wh-what are you?" the red-haired boy asked and slowly stood up, brushing off the dirt that fell off easily. He stepped back and left a visible gap between the two of them.

"A jellyfish," Kuroko deadpanned.

"Don't say it as if it's obvious!" Kagami barked and almost forgot to keep his distance, because he was pretty sure that jellyfish had given him an electric shock earlier.

Kuroko's eyes were scanning him silently, as if looking for something, or gathering information of him, and it made Kagami feel uncomfortable, being watched like this.

He sighed then and ruffled his hair. "So... what do you want?"

The transparent boy stopped examining him and raised his head to make eye contact. "I'd like to talk to you about Aomine-kun."

 

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Kagami asked after they sat down on a bench at the playground. He had gathered his grocery bags earlier and was thankful that nothing inside was damaged in any way. It was a surprise though, considering how he had thrown them around earlier.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko said and turned to the red-haired sitting beside him. "Do you care for Aomine-kun's well-being?"

"Wh-" Kagami gave the jellyfish a wry look. "Where the hell is this suddenly coming from?"

The grocery bags were lying on the ground to his right, and he was careful enough not to hit them as he kicked dirt in front of his shoes away. Kagami leaned forward and onto his knees, bracing himself on his elbows.

His thoughts started to wander to Aomine, the way he was always displeased with everything and always found something to nag about, especially If it was about Kagami himself. But the merman was also often seen smiling, either smirking or genuinely laughing, and Kagami decided he liked seeing that, watching Aomine all relaxed beside him in the bathtub.

But then the red-haired had to think about all the unpleasant things as well, which had been piling up over the weeks, and were definitely more frequent than the smiles and smirks, and Kagami was wondering why he even let that idiot stay in his bathtub.

He didn't even want to think about the baths they were forced to take together, because Aomine keeps hitting him with his stupid tail, goddammit.

"He's a huge pain in the ass," Kagami decides to say and sighs, his fingers playing with each other, scraping at his skin or nails. "But... it seems I just can't leave him alone."

His dark eyes were fixed on his fingers, so he didn't see the smile slowly spreading over Kuroko's face.

"I see," the transparent boy said, "Aomine-kun said the same thing."

Kuroko remembered one particular evening when the merman had invited him over. It had been one of the rare days Kagami had decided to go out with his friends, therefore leaving Aomine alone at home. Whereas in return he invited his friend Kuroko into his new place.

"He's a huge pain in the ass," Aomine said, sulking a bit, his eyes fixed on his shiny, blue tail moving back and forth, "but somehow I can't leave him alone."

Kuroko, who was sitting on the small, open window above the bathtub, watched his friend attentively.

"Aomine-kun, you're smiling," he said, and smiled as well as his friend's cheeks slowly turned red, his mouth muttering something close to an embarrassed "shut up".

"Kagami-kun, do you want to know why Aomine-kun harbours such dislike towards human beings?" the jellyfish asked and turned towards Kagami, pinning him down with a pointed stare, and the red-haired couldn't help but look back.

"No..." the boy said, "though he once joked about being tortures by scientists."

Honestly, Kagami didn't dare to ask. Only the thought made his blood boil with anger he didn't know he held inside him for another person. "Is it true?"

Kuroko smiled upon seeing the trouble on Kagami's face. "Don't worry, Kagami-kun, that was definitely a joke," he said and watched the boy sigh in relief.

"But something did happen," the jellyfish continued and turned his head. There were a couple of children running around the playground, their parents watching them from a close distance. Kuroko's features softened.

"A mutual friend of ours once got caught in a fishing net and almost got kidnapped. Luckily, Aomine-kun happened to be close and safe her. It seems since then he has developed these negative feelings," Kuroko said, the children now getting ready to go home.

The sun was already setting, plunging them both into a bright orange. Kagami leaned back, no longer supporting his weight on his knees. "Well, that at least explains it-- Wait a second! Why do fishers go fishing in a river?" he asked and turned confused to Kuroko.

"Don't be silly, Kagami-kun, they don't," Kuroko replied.

"Then ho--"

"It was in the ocean of course."

Kuroko's answer left the red-haired boy stunned for a second before gathering his thoughts and asking, "but how the hell did Aomine end up in the river!?"

By now, his head was a spinning mess, and he wondered how exactly he was still able to keep up with Kuroko's gibberish.

The jellyfish stared at him, and he gave Kagami that look, as if saying 'I actually have to spell it out for you? Isn't it obvious?' while it wasn't obvious at all.

"He walked there of course," Kuroko said, turning his head to meet Kagami's big eyes.

"He walked!? How the fu--"

"Aomine-kun didn't tell you? He can change his fish tail into legs," the jellyfish said nonchalant.

"HE WHAT!?"

And suddenly it made click inside Kagami head; his floor sometimes being wet out of nowhere and him thinking that something must be leaking; food suddenly missing out of the fridge even though he was sure he hadn't touched anything; his neighbour accusing him of stalking her through the window because she constantly felt eyes on her while changing clothes.

"Aomine..." Kagami muttered through gritted teeth, the anger boiling up in his body like water in a heating pot. That guy had made him do all those things while he could have done them himself just fine. All the trouble he had gone through because of him, the slap he had once received from his neighbour.

"Aomine-kun really cares for you, Kagami-kun," Kuroko suddenly said, and all of sudden all his anger vanished, and he breathed in patiently.

"So don't think too badly of him."

Kagami huffed amused through his nostrils. "I will always think badly of him."

 

Kagami ran home as if his life depended on it. People were staring curiously at him as he sprinted past them. He was like a flash, like a tiger who was hunting down his prey, his feet moving on their own. The grocery bags were swinging from left to right, occasionally hitting against his legs and then against air in a back and forth rhythm.

He was already asking himself why he was running so desperately and had the desire to see Aomine right now, as if it had triggered something inside him, deep deep inside him.

By the time he stood in front of his apartment, Kagami had difficulties pushing the key into the lock. He cursed under his breath, exhaling as it eventually worked at the forth time, and he threw the door open, not bothering to take off his shoes or jacket, instead just ran straight to the bathroom.

His neighbours would probably kill him for the noise.

"Aomine!" Kagami shouted as he opened the door to the bathroom, and his breath hitched.

There he was, Aomine in his full glory, watching series on the small laptop that had been previously Kagami's.

Aomine looked up questioningly at his name, and then raised an eyebrow as he saw the state Kagami was in, all sweaty and breathless. His hair stuck out visibly, and his cheeks were bright red, matching his hair colour.

"Did you just run here?" he asked and watched as Kagami's legs finally gave in and he slumped to the floor. His body was shaking as he leaned onto the bathtub for support.

"What happened?" Aomine asked, a trace of concern gracing his voice, and he waited for Kagami to catch his breath.

The boy felt a wet hand stroking his sweaty hair, and he could hear his heartbeat slowing down gradually.

"I ju--" Kagami stopped himself from saying any more. Kuroko had told him of Aomine's past in the confidence that he wouldn't tell anyone , less Aomine himself. And he didn't know how the merman would react upon hearing what he had been doing the past hour. At least he was sure that Aomine wasn't aware that Kuroko had gone out of his way and looked for Kagami.

But Kagami was glad he had, because now he knew more and understood better, not only about Aomine but also about himself.

The red-haired raised his head to lock eyes with the merman, who was still looking at him questionably. Those beautifully blue eyes were staring at him, and he saw worry hidden in them, and it made his heart flutter a bit.

"Nothing," the boy breathed out. "Just wanted to see you."

Aomine snorted, and the hand that previously patted Kagami's hand now reached down to his cheek, softly touching the skin. "So bad you ran here?"

Kagami grinned. "Yeah."

His heartbeat increased again as Aomine looked at his face, and the hand stroking his cheek had halted at his lips and brushed them gently.

"Your lips are all chapped," the merman said and his look was like hypnotised, completely engrossed with Kagami's mouth, following the tongue that slipped out to wet both lips.

"Then help me wet them," the red-haired boy said and they both laughed, because _that was so lame,_ but Aomine kissed him, and it felt great.

And the merman pulled him velvet clothes into the bathtub and didn't stop until the sun went down.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, if you enjoyed it! Or at least criticism to improve my writing!!!


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